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03 June 2012

my worst habit

Hey, did you hear that thump sound? That was life running me over. Holy cow, the past couple of weeks have been a frenzy. All in a good way but its been a trial just to find a moment to catch my breath.

I decided yesterday that today would be a studio day. Period. No messing about. There are deadlines, of course, to be tamed but more then that, this is home. And I'd been away for too long.

When I walked in, this is what greeted at me:

This, my friends, is my worst habit in the studio. When I'm working on projects, I toss the fabric on the floor when I am done with it. You can see some small attempt at breaking the habit with an array of baskets (note how well they work) but obviously, its not something I'm near ending.

I decided it was time to fold and sort and just restore order to this corner. (I've at least trained myself to throw them in the same corner so they don't take over the whole studio. But still...do you think painters throw their paint tubes on the floor when they are done with a color? Or potters grab a hunk of leftover clay and throw it against the wall to just get it out of the way? I tell you, its a troubling habit...)

So I did just that. I sat down on the floor, turned up the music (Rosie Thomas today for some nice mellow sounds) and started sorting and folding. I classify my stash in four categories: commercial prints, commercial solids, hand dyes and printed.

Here they are, all tidy (it'll take me a nano second to destroy them again, don't be fooled):

I even found bits of my beloved mistyfuse in the mess. Blasphemy, I tell you.

Notice the big white laundry basket is still there? Want to know what's in it? Here, take a look:

Future Remnant Collages, that's what. I'm so happy to have found a way of working I want to stick with for an indefinite amount of time but the amount of scraps it is producing is becoming an issue. I used to be able to corral them into a small cute dollar store baskets. Now I need the family size laundry basket and they are threatening to spill over the top even then.

I wonder if its possible to drown in fabric scraps? Might just find out the answer to that...

I did pull some fabrics while I was tidying for this:

That will hopefully be an entry into a local fiber show. I promised myself that I wasn't going to add anything to the list (its been an issue, I just want to do it all) but I love the venue and I love the people pulling it together and want to at least submit for it. We'll see. The background is the most time consuming, after that I can fling paint and just work with abandon.

The remainder of the studio time is going to be writing. Which is just as good as working with fabric, I love them equally as well. So thrilled to have this time and can't wait for an upcoming week of vacation at the beginning of July. No traveling for me - allllll studio time. Is there anything better I ask you? :)

9 comments:

Artists don't throw their paints on the floor, but they DO leave them in disarray or some here and some there..so the next time you go to paint, you have to hunt them down. I so connect with what you have encountered here. Today I am going to try to sift thru a little, I can feel a visitor or two coming very soon. I want them to appreciate what can be seen..ha!

THANK YOU for the glimpse at someone else's mess and then sort-out (rather than just my own)!

It is a little daunting to expose yourself like that (I do it, too) but it sure helps to get things done.

Usually in my studio it isn't fabrics but forms -- stuff I've "rescued" from going to the recycle in (for now) and is spilling out of my re-use-it bin in the studio. At some point I just have to tell myself ENOUGH and use what I've got and start over...LOL.

Eh, I don't think this is a very big deal - I mean - at least you can still walk in your studio - right? Personally, I find using scraps a wonderful challenge that gives me license to experiment and explore without worry over "wasting" anything. Some of my most inventive and interesting pieces are made from scraps. If you really want to get rid of them - I am sure you could sell some baggies full of scraps on Etsy or your blog - bet there are people who would snatch them right up!

Oh Lynn, your studio is a palace of inspiration! I have to admit, I quit saving scraps. I keep anything over 3 inches, but I just bag them and send them to a local quilt group for scrap quilts they make for needy families. That said, I still have piles to sort and I've been doing this for 30+ years. I wonder what artists in other media do? I like to think they squish the paint on a wall or floor and create with abandon.